


The One With Santa Claus

by lookingforatardis



Series: Charmie Ficmas 2018 [3]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017) RPF
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Mall Santa Claus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-11 22:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16861069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookingforatardis/pseuds/lookingforatardis
Summary: Armie is a mall Santa and Timmy is one of the elves...





	The One With Santa Claus

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based off a prompt I got for Timmy to be an elf and help Armie out, but I wanted to incorporate a mall santa somewhere and what better place than that?? Thank you tumblr anon for the idea!

His first day, I noticed he was a little off. He didn't seem to have the same sort of lackluster false enthusiasm that screams "I'm still in high school and need some cash to blow." No, he had some other sort of energy entirely. Almost as if he was reluctant to be here, as if he didn't have any other options.

Not that I did, either. You don't strap on a beard and fake ass belly for shits and giggles.

He kept tugging at his stupid little elf ears all day, and he looked bored as fuck unless a kid was around. Then, well then he turned on this charming smile and even from across the plaza of the mall, I could see the influence it had. It was a little surreal, maybe even distracting if I were to be honest.

He was a "shopper," which was our boss's way of saying he wore an elf costume and stood at a booth with a Christmas tree and asked shoppers to purchase gifts for the orphanage we were benefiting. He was good at it-- his first week alone he got double the return of the next highest "shopper." He wasn't always on my shifts, but I usually saw him in the staff area between shifts if we didn't. He'd tear his ears off and groan, lean against the wall, make eye contact, and say, "What are we doing here, man?" And then he'd turn and leave. Every time. Never anything else.

I was fascinated. I'd never met someone who could turn it on like that around kids and then shut down afterwards in exhaust and indifference.

His name was Timmy, as I'd learned after a few days. Timmy the new elf, that was how he was introduced to me. It was unbearably charming how much he seemed to hate the title.

It took me until halfway through the second week of December to convince my boss that he had "what it took" to be one of "Santa's Elves." And yes, I knew how it sounded, but I didn't think my boss knew how it sounded, so I tried not to cringe too hard when I said it. He'd nodded and shifted the schedule and before I knew it, I was walking up to my chair only to see Timmy with a line of kids. He smirked at me when I arrived and greeted the kids, but other than that, he was perfectly in character. It took a few hours for me to realize he probably did drama in school, maybe even wanted to be an actor. He had the talent for it considering how much I knew he didn't want to be here. After the shift, he called me a bastard for switching his times. I told him I didn't know what he was talking about and he smiled, perhaps for the first time that I'd ever seen, and said, "Sure you don't."

He was one of my regulars that week, meaning he was on every shift with me. The second day, he said hello. The third, he let me ask about his day. By the end of the week, when he brought kids over to me, he'd lean in and tell the kids that I had a weakness for puppy eyes, or to sit on one side or the other because it was my "good side" (though he switched that answer with each kid, so who knew what he really thought) for pictures, or to the rambunctious kids, that Santa only brings toys to kids who are nice to his elves. He always said that with a wink, a hand on my shoulder. I'd like to say he was growing on me, but really I think it was the other way around and I'd always been fond.

The next week, I ran into him after hours, his body leaned against the wall near Starbucks, his green tights peeking out from his sweatpants, the only sign of his earlier elf getup. He smiled at me when I approached and stuffed his phone into his pocket with a wave. Asked what I was still doing at the mall. "Shopping," I explained, lifting a bag at my side.

"Hmm. Didn't think Santa had to shop," he teased.

"Well, it seems my elves have all disappeared, so…"

"Disappeared? Am I invisible to you then?"

"Nah, far from it," I'd said, biting my tongue as soon as the words left my lips. He smirked and gave me a once over before humming. It made me nervous that this guy who was probably barely old enough to drink was able to tear my confidence down to size with a single look.

"Good." It was a simple answer, but it consumed me for days.

 

* * *

 

 

He was ungodly hot for someone to be called Santa. Certainly, they screen for this sort of thing, right? It's one of the boxed you check, am I a fucking greek god, _no_ you're Santa, _yes_ get out of here. He was insane. I'd asked about him on my first day, his fucking eyes the bluest I'd ever seen in my life. I was positive he could do whatever he wanted with a smile like that, and found myself scrounging for information about him, why he was here, what happened that he was a mall Santa, was he single, and more importantly, was he gay?

I'd learned a fair bit about him, mainly that he'd been working for his family's company for years and finally decided it wasn't for him. "He's finding himself or some bullshit," another elf, Elliot, told me my first week. "Keeps to himself, though. Don't expect much." I tried to show him I wasn't a threat by talking to him after work each day, pleased to find I rarely went a day without his eyes.

And then I got swapped, and god I knew it was him by the way he didn't look surprised, how my supervisor told me I was being requested to be swapped out. It was such a high to know it wasn't all in my head, the looks and smiles. It gave me a fair bit of confidence.

I started playing with him a little, just for the hell of it, just to see how he'd react. He was so hot when he got flustered, even through the horrendous fake beard. He'd blush and mumble and shake his head and it was so goddamn _cute_ , I don't think he even knew he was capable of being cute, but he was. The kids loved him, as any rational human would upon laying eyes on him. The fact that he played along and humored me only make me like him more.

I saw him leaving a store after one of my shifts and tried to contain my excitement at seeing him in normal clothes, his hair styled, sweater on. He looked so good, and his smile when he saw me warmed me from the inside out. When he said I wasn't invisible, I knew it was another one of our cheesy lines, but I felt it and I knew by the blush on his cheeks he meant it, too. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was going to stop me from seeing where that blush of his would lead us.

 

* * *

 

 

"Hey, Santa," he called out a few days later in the mall. I wasn't wearing my outfit, but it didn't seem to matter to him.

"You know my name's Armie, right?"

"Nah, it's Santa to me."

"Whatever. Hey, help me out, will you? I'm trying to figure out what to get my friend," I'd said, anything to get him to talk to me a little longer. I wasn't sure he could really help, but I figured it might be a good opportunity to get to know him nevertheless.

"Okay… what does your friend like?" he'd asked, falling into step with me.

"I was thinking of maybe getting him something for his grill." I turned towards a kitchen supply store.

"That's so boring," he laughed. "Are you serious?"

"What? He likes to grill!"

"God nevermind. I'm not calling you Santa if that's the best you can do."

"Promise?" I asked, smirking. He glanced over and laughed, shoved me away from him. I caught him biting his lip, though, and it spurred me on.

"Okay, well he likes to cook. So what would you suggest, mighty gift giver?"

"Shut up," he rolled his eyes. We wandered isles and joked around about various gag gifts before he'd found some holiday cookie cutters and lost it. I tried to pry them away from him, but he was insistent we buy them. "Oh god, look a little Santa one! Oh come on, Armie. Don't you need some cookie cutters for all the Christmas cookies you're gonna make? Or do you just eat them, Santa?"

It was endlessly amusing for him, and when we found a Santa themed apron, he threw it at me as well, followed by Santa shaped cake tins, until he was a fit of giggles over my arms full of Santa themed merchandise. "Perfect. _Now_ you're ready to embrace your true Santa self," he'd laughed after finding a Santa chef's hat and placing it on my head.

"You're insufferable."

"You love it."

"Maybe I do, maybe a little."

He'd beamed at me and helped take my Santa pile of shit off my arms and head before running a hand through my hair to fix it. I may have imagined it when he lingered, but I certainly didn't imagine him saying, "This is fun, isn't it?" I'd nodded and suggested we get hot chocolate, desperate to delay any sort of farewell with him.

He found it charming that I'd asked him for hot chocolate instead of a drink, or even coffee-- he'd told me as much when we walked to the food court. After ordering, we walked over to the Christmas plaza where the tree and Santa's village was set up, and sat down near the tree in all its glory. "You didn't really have a friend to shop for, did you?" he asked with a smile.

"I mean… I do have people to shop for," I replied, concealing my nervous smile. He nodded knowingly and let the subject pass by. It was easy, talking to Timmy. I barely noticed time passing at all before we had to part ways.

 

* * *

 

 

I was trying to save up between semesters, back for about a month and a half before leaving for college again. Working at the mall was an easy job, just all they had left this year for seasonal stuff by the time I applied was the elf job. I'd been so reluctant at first, but I had to admit, it wasn't half bad spending my days with Armie.

Even if he did look like a Santa monstrosity. He was still attractive under it all, and his smile was him all the way.

"Hey Santa, whatcha think? These kids been good this year?" I stage whispered to him one day, just loud enough for the front handful of kids to hear. I leaned over against his chair so I was close to him as he smirked at me and looked over the kids.

"I guess I'd better check my list."

"What, haven't done it twice by now? You're slackin' old man," I teased, knocking his shoulder. A kid or two shouted out the had been good, which made him laugh in that too-fake way he always did for work. "Ah, we've got some confident kids today, Santa."

"That we do. Why don't you bring some of them up? Stop hogging all my time? What do you say, kids?"

"Oh, stop. You love our pow-wows," I complained, hand over heart as I walked over to let the next kid up. "Alright, what's your name? Santa here is going to be real patient and listen to every single thing you want on your list, isn't that right Santa?" He shook his head at me but smiled at the kid who beamed at him. It was fun, our little game. He didn't joke around with any of the other elves, I was told. Just me. I loved it.

When our shift ended, he walked me to the area we changed and asked if I wanted to grab another hot chocolate. I countered with spiked hot chocolate and he laughed softly before nodding. It felt like a colossal victory to get him out of the mall, though we ended up just going to a dive bar super close anyway. We order and he asked me about my life, and upon hearing I was only working here for the holidays before focusing back on university, asked what my favorite part was. "The decorations," I said easily. "We always put on shitty Christmas movies or music and just decorate everything in sight."

"That sounds fun," he laughed. "My parents always loved to go all out."

"You don't?"

"I guess I don't feel the need? It's just me," he said. Before I knew it, I was inviting him over for Christmas, over to my _family_ house, and he was accepting, albeit hesitantly. We talked for hours, his voice calming and warm and enough to make me miss home despite not having to leave for a few more weeks.

He called me an uber and told me he could pick me up for work in the morning since I wouldn't have my car, and then pulled my hat lower over my ears and tugged my jacket over my chest tightly. It was comforting to be looked after like that, with his eyes on mine while we waited for my ride (he wasn't drunk enough to need one, he insisted). When it arrived, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me swiftly before rushing me into the car before I could process it. 

* * *

 

He'd been waiting the entire season it seemed to be able to make a joke about kissing Santa Claus. He mentioned it constantly our last few days at work, and while it never happened again, I couldn't help but feel like joking about it was his only way of dealing with it. I'd wanted to kiss him since the day I'd met him practically, so it was only a matter of time before I'd cave. But for him, I supposed it might have been just as important to him.

On our last day, I pulled him aside after it was all over, after our costumes had been hung and the donations collected. We walked over to the tree where I first saw him, and he smiled at me like I saw him smile that first day. I lifted a hand to trace the line of his nose and lips, my heart picking up speed as he stood still and allowed my touch without so much as a question, with nothing more than a smile in his eyes. I leaned in and brushed my lips against his, softly at first, then more firmly, with purpose as I realized he was sinking into it as well. I kissed him like I'd wanted to then, his lips soft against mine, his fingers in my hair, his body sending shivers down my own when he shifted closer. He was as close as he could be, our lungs fighting for air since neither of us seemed to want to stop. Time slowed and stopped in the space I spent in his arms, holding him close to me, until finally I pulled back and smiled at him. "So Christmas," he whispered. "I'm introducing you as my boyfriend, okay Santa?"

I laughed and kissed him again, mumbled a _sure_ against his lips, and wrapped my arms around him tightly.

 


End file.
